1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to amplifiers, and more specifically to a switched power amplifier topology providing high efficiency.
2. Related Art
Power amplifiers are generally used to boost the power level of an input signal. Power amplifiers contain one or more components (conveniently referred to as power-control elements) that control the manner in which power amplification is achieved. When the power-control elements in a power amplifier are used in an ON/OFF or switched manner in performing power amplification, the power amplifiers are termed switched power amplifiers.
In contrast, when the power-control elements are used in a linear region of operation (and not in an ON/OFF manner) at least for some duration of the power conversion operation, the power amplifiers are termed linear power amplifiers. Switched power amplifiers may be realized using several topologies, the term topology generally referring to the specific arrangement and/or interconnections of the components of the switched power amplifier.
Efficiency of a power amplifier (switched type or otherwise) is generally the ratio of the power delivered to a load and the power consumed by the power amplifier in delivering the power to the load.